


I Don't Need You Anymore

by CarlsRightEye21



Series: Aoi, The Royal Big Brother [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Aoi adopted Toph, Aoi is Alive AU, Aoi looked after Azula since he met her, Aoi raised his siblings, Child Neglect, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Parental favoritism, Ursa wasn't a good mom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:01:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24993508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarlsRightEye21/pseuds/CarlsRightEye21
Summary: Aoi saw the way Ursa always favored Zuko. Ozai wasn't going to raise his children so it fell to Aoi to make sure that Azula was raised right. When Ursa disappeared, Aoi stepped up to raise Zuko too.So what happens when Ursa shows back up?
Relationships: OC & Azula, OC & Zuko
Series: Aoi, The Royal Big Brother [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1782784
Comments: 2
Kudos: 54





	I Don't Need You Anymore

Aoi never meant to show favoritism towards his siblings but it quickly became obvious shortly after his adoption that Ursa favored Zuko. 

Azula was left to her own devices often and got into mischief because of it. So Aoi tried to step up and guide her. She was only seven, after all. 

Frankly, Azula laughed at him at first, taunting his status and the fact that he was adopted. Aoi decided to pull back a little and instead only intervene when he deemed it necessary. 

Such a time arose when he heard the chefs in the kitchen scolding Azula for sneaking treats and making a mess of things. 

"You wretched little girl!" The chef waved his spoon at her threateningly. "You are an awful child!" 

Aoi can see Azula's face twist with hurt before it quickly contorts into anger. 

Her hand is raised and Aoi steps up. 

"What is the meaning of this?" Aoi steps up, back straight as he glares at the chef. 

"My prince," The chef lets out a small bow. 

"I know that I did not just hear you insulting a princess," Aoi placed a hand onto Azula's shoulder to keep her from attacking the man. 

"It was a slip of the tongue, my prince," The chef mumbles in apology. 

Aoi reaches out and curled his hands into the chef's uniform. He was only twelve but he was tall for his age and was only slightly smaller than the man. 

"If you even think of breathing in my sister's direction again, I will personally make your life miserable," Aoi threatened as he shoved the man against the wall. 

Azula gained some respect for him after that and was a little more open to his suggestions. After Aoi takes her out to see the stars, Azula lets him guide her. 

So Aoi passes on the morals that his parents taught him before they passed. He teachers to be a little more independent and not rely on servants for everything. He teaches her kindness, teamwork, self-care and more. Azula thrives on his praise and attention. 

Aoi can hear the servants talk. They whisper about how Aoi and Azula were left to raise themselves since Zuko was the next in the bloodline for the throne despite Aoi being older. 

While in school, Azula learned just how much Aoi did for her. Other kids talked about their parents and Azula would realize that Aoi did those things. 

Moms and dads kept you safe, kissed your scraped knees, kept away the monsters at night, and always praised you to do better. 

Aoi did all that and more. Aoi taught her about the stars and didn’t care if she glared at him, just pulled her up and dangled her upside down, digging his fingers into her sides until the frown turned into giggled laughter. 

Zuko would notice Aoi's attention.

Zuko got jealous. He got into a fight with Azula that ended with him shoving her into the Turtle-duck pond. 

He feels a little remorse when Azula’s face scrunched up and she holds up scraped palms from the rough rocks in the pond she slipped on. 

Azula clambers out, waterlogged and on the verge of tears. She hadn’t even provoked Zuko that time. 

“You’re always hogging Aoi!” Zuko sneered at her, his hands curling into fists. He realizes that Azula hadn’t resorted to violence or flung flames at him when he laid his hands on her. 

It just makes him feel worse but the anger and pain overwhelm the guilt. 

“No, I’m not!” Azula argued, trying to wring the water out of her robes and hair that now hung limply around her face. 

“Hey, what happened here?” Aoi approached, slightly out of breath from training. 

“Zuzu pushed me into the pond!” Azula jabs her finger at Zuko. Aoi looked down at his brother. 

“Zuko?” Aoi prompted. “Did you push her?”

Zuko refuses to answer but Aoi can read between the lines. 

Aoi pulled his outer robe off and wrapped it around Azula’s shivering shoulders. He scooped Azula up and she nestled into his warmth, sticking her tongue out at Zuko. 

“Wait in your room. I’ll come to talk to you,” Aoi tells Zuko. 

Aoi isn’t his parent but Zuko finds himself following Aoi’s instructions, heading to his room. 

Aoi helps Azula dry off and put her hair back up, bandaging her scraped hands and praised her for not resorting to violence in response to Zuko pushing her. 

Then Aoi moves to Zuko’s room to find the boy sulking. 

“Why did you push Azula?” Aoi questioned gently, taking a seat next to Zuko but the boy scoots away from him. “Zuko?”

“You’re always spending time with Azula!” Zuko snapped. “You never spend time with me!” 

Aoi listens to Zuko rant. 

“You always spend time with her and play with her and take her places and teach her things!” Zuko yells. “You don’t do those things to me! Why? Am I not good enough? Am I not a good brother!?” 

Aoi wrapped his arms around Zuko and doesn’t let go when the boy squirmed wildly. 

“Lemme go!” Zuko’s yells slowly turn into sobs. “Lemme go…”

When Zuko isn’t yelling anymore and falls limp into Aoi, the teenager speaks up.

“I’m sorry that I made you feel like you weren’t good enough. I spend a lot of time with Azula because Mother and Father don’t. Mother does a lot of things with you that I do with Azula. Mother doesn’t do those things with me and Azula,” Aoi explained gently, rocking Zuko side to side. 

“That’s not true. Mother does those things with you,” Zuko protests but he scrunches his face up as he tries to remember Ursa ever doing those things with Aoi or Azula. “She cares about you.” He amends. 

“I know she cares. But Azula feels left out when Mother doesn’t do those things with her so I do them. I’m always here when you want to hang out with me, Zuko. You need to talk with me, not push your sister into a pond,” Aoi chides and Zuko blushes as he wipes away his tears. “I’ll try to remember to set aside time for just you and me, okay?”

Zuko tries to tell his mother that she should spend more time with Aoi and Azula. She smiles and makes promises but Zuko watches them never come to fruition. 

Zuko realizes that Aoi is just trying to be the rock that Azula needs. Zuko has his mother and Azula has Aoi. 

So Zuko tries to be the big brother that Azula needs too. When Aoi is too tired from training or sick, Azula will now crawl into Zuko’s bed rather than fall asleep outside of Aoi’s door. Azula will now go to Zuko when she feels insecure and Aoi isn’t available. 

Zuko feels a little more accomplished when he and Azula don’t fight anymore and Azula starts to ask him to join in on playing with her and her friends. 

* * *

Aoi is nineteen when Zuko and Azula ask Aoi if they could go to search for Ursa with the Avatar and group. Aoi was under a lot of stress recently and up to his ears in paperwork so he gave Zuko and the group funds to go and do as they pleased. 

To be honest, Aoi wasn't expecting anything to come of it. He thought that searching would give his siblings the closure that they needed. 

But to his surprise, they come back a month later, grief painted on his sibling's faces. He meets them as they land and they run into his arms. 

"We found her," Azula comments after a long pause of silence. 

"She got a new face," Zuko explained quietly, tears gathering in his eyes. "She forgot about us."

Azula's fingers curled into his robes as she tries to tug him closer. "She didn't care. She chose to forget about us." There's distaste and hurt painted on her face. 

"She's remarried," Zuko tacked on when Azula didn't. "She has a daughter. She has he face and memory back not but she doesn't know about us. She doesn't know that you killed Father or what he did or--"

Zuko cuts himself off as his hand trailed up to his scar. He abruptly dropped his hand and turned to bury his face into his brother's robes instead. 

His siblings weep for the mother that left them behind, mourning the loss of a woman they never got to know. Ursa may be alive but their mother died the day that Azulon was killed and their mother disappeared into the night, willingly leaving her children behind. 

Aoi and his siblings move forward. They keep traveling with the Avatar and group, helping piece together places impacted by the war. 

Aoi gets a notification three months after his siblings found Ursa. He's twenty now. 

His guard informs him that there is a woman there to see him. Aoi allows the visit. 

It's Ursa. She sits in front of Aoi in his office, complimenting him on how much he had grown and how proud she was of him like she hadn't abandoned him years ago. 

"Why are you here?" Aoi interrupts her rant, knowing that he sounds rude. Ursa looks a little hurt. 

"I wanted to see my eldest son," She finally replied. There is guilt and remorse in her eyes. 

"You haven't seen me in six years," Aoi retorts, trying to hold his tongue. "There was plenty of time to see me. But you left and got a new face, willingly forgetting about the children you left behind so that you could make a new one."

"I never meant to hurt you," Ursa pleads softly, her tone genuine. "Kiyi wasn't meant to replace you. Nothing could ever replace you."

"I frankly do not care," Aoi was blunt as he stares at her. "Do you even know what happened in your absence?"

"I heard that Ozai was killed," Ursa hesitantly comments. "And you stepped up in his place."

“Do you know who killed him?” Aoi frowned, tilting his head to gauge her reaction. She shakes her head and Aoi leaned forward. “I did.”

Ursa lets out a tiny gasp, hand coming up to cover her mouth. “Aoi--”

Aoi clears his throat to stop the venom that wants to spew from his mouth. "I did it because he was going to kill Zuko. Have you seen his face?!" 

Ursa looks ready to cry now. 

"I was fully prepared to die that day but I couldn't leave my siblings that young. I fought to keep my siblings alive and safe," Aoi's voice was sharp and clipped as he reaches up to tog at the collar on his robes, revealing the handprint shaped burns on his throat. Ursa's eyes are watering as she hesitantly reaches a hand out towards it. 

Aoi catches her hand, his fingers squeezing her wrist softly. "You left and we mourned. We moved on. You coming here will not help my siblings. You really hurt them. I won't let you hurt them again."

"You are my children," Ursa starts to protest with anger. "You can't keep me!" 

"You were our mother and you still left. Do not make me keep you away," Aoi threatened, his stomach curling into tight knots. "Ozai banished you. You shouldn't even be on Fire Nation soil. 

"I wanted to see my children," Ursa argued softly and Aoi was thankful that at least she left her new family behind. "I'm sorry, Aoi. I never meant for this to happen. I just wanted to keep you three safe."

"Azula and I barely knew you," Aoi comments with concealed bitterness. 

"I know that I wasn't the best but I want to try harder," Ursa pleads, reaching towards Aoi again, having not learned her lesson the first time. 

Aoi smacked her hand away, getting tired of her advances. “I couldn’t give a shit whether you were my mom. I raised myself. But while you coddled Zuko, you left Azula behind. Both of them had issues with the way they were raised. I became their sole guardian at the age of sixteen. I raised them the best I could and did a damned good job!” 

Aoi smashed his fist onto his desk in anger. “I’ve been raising Azula since she was seven and took on Zuko when he was eleven. I have sacrificed everything for them to have the best possible chances in life because I love them! You left and forgot about them and you’re their mother!” 

Aoi could feel the earth begging for him to move it and curled his fingers into fists to gather himself before he lost control. 

“I could care less about you but if you attempt to get into contact with either of my siblings then I will have you thrown in the boiling rock for treason against my word. They are no longer your children, they’re mine. Go back to your husband and new daughter and play happy family. You are not welcome here,” Aoi ends his rant with a large gulp of air before he settles back in his chair at Ursa who was gaping at him. 

“Please,” Ursa gets onto her knees and pressed her forehead to the ground. “I just--”

Aoi let her plead. Her babbled, desperate wishes to get to know the children she had left. 

This woman had been kind and had given Aoi a roof over his head and three square meals. But his siblings would always come first. 

"Aoi?" Ty Lee pokes her head inside his office, not expecting the visitor. "Oh sorry."

"Ty Lee?" Ursa perks up and Ty Lee blinks in confusion. 

"Leave her alone," Aoi stands straight, moving towards the door where Ty Lee was. "What did you need, Ty Lee?"

"There was an incident with the gardener," Ty Lee's eyes flickered towards Ursa before looking up at Aoi again. "He was burned."

"I see," Aoi reached out and placed a hand onto Ty Lee's shoulder. "How important is this? Can it wait?"

"She won't calm down with Zuko," Ty Lee admits in a tiny voice. "Sorry."

"Okay," Aoi sighed before he nods. "Run ahead and let Azula know--"

"Azula is burning people?" Ursa interrupts and Aoi glared at her. "Aoi, please, I need to see her. That kind of behavior is what I tried to prevent--"

Aoi whirled to face Ursa and backhanded her so hard that she toppled over. 

"You have one hour to vacate Fire Nation waters. If you are found on the grounds after an hour then I will have you arrested for treason," Aoi barked, his fingers tingling from where they connected with her face. 

Ursa stares up at Aoi in horror, holding her rapidly reddening cheek. "Aoi--"

"Shut up before I cut your tongue out!" Aoi was losing his patience. He couldn't deal with this. "Guards--"

Aoi nearly trips when Ursa wraps her fingers into Aoi's robes to continue to plead. 

"Aoi..." Ty Lee anxiously peers into the room. 

"Hey!" Toph comes tumbling down the hall. "What's the hold-up? We're ready to come to you."

"Toph," Aoi placed his hands onto her shoulders. "I need you to make sure that this woman finds her way outside of the gates to the palace."

Toph frowned at him in confusion but nods. 

"Aoi--" Ursa starts again but Aoi growled. 

"This is my ward. She is one of the best earthbenders I know. My warning still stands," Aoi turns to a guard and goes to give instructions when his door opens again. 

"Bobo," Zuko's apologetic voice sounds before Aoi is attacked by Azula. She throws her arms around him and wrapped her legs around his waist. Aoi holds her close as if she was fourteen or far too old to be held on his hip like a child. "Mom?"

Ursa's face lights up at Zuko and she reaches out towards him but Toph takes her orders seriously and flicks a pebble at Ursa's wrist, slapping it down. 

"Mom..." Azula's voice takes on a weird disconnected tone and Aoi pushes past the others to leave the room. "Bobo, why is mom here? Is she really here?"

"She's here," Aoi hates that his voice cracks. He can't protect his siblings from the one thing that still haunts them. 

Azula pressed her face into Aoi's shoulder. "Make her leave."

That, Aoi can do. With a motion of his hand the guard files into the room and Ursa is hauled up and out of the room. She's calling for Zuko but Toph flicks her hand and a clay pot nearby warped into a makeshift gag, covering the lower half of Ursa's face and muffling her protests. 

By now, the rest of the group had shown up. Aoi wrapped an arm around Zuko and pulled him into a hug. Ty Lee wrapped her arms around Azula and Mai stepped forward to press herself between Zuko and Azula. 

Eventually, Aang decided he wanted a hug too and joined in. Toph came back, a determined look on her face and slipped between Mai and Azula. Sokka and Katara joined in beside Zuko and Aang. 

Aoi holds them all closely. He may not be able to spare them the pain that comes with life but he would try his damnedest raise them right. 

These eight kids were his and he was going to protect them. 


End file.
